Marijuana Law Reform in the US

Marijuana Policy Project state policy map.
Image credit to Marijuana Policy Project.
I was involved in drug policy reform activism for several years, as I have long found the war on drugs a fascinating topic. This included working as an intern for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), working in various capacities for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and writing articles for a similar nonprofit advocacy organization, Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

The diagram above, from MPP, depicts the current state of state-level marijuana laws. Those in black have both removed criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana, which is commonly known as decriminalization, and passed medical marijuana laws. Those in dark gray have only decriminalized marijuana. Those in light gray have passed medical marijuana measures only, while those in dark blue have legalized marijuana in a similar manner to alcohol, with a minimum legal age of 21. Those in light blue have legalized the possession and cultivation of limited amounts of the drug for adults but without a system of legal sales, and also have medical marijuana laws.

The data in the table below consist of the same information conveyed by the diagram, but in a responsive table format which is implemented with jQuery.

The presence of a decriminalization or medical marijuana law in a legalized state is of course superfluous, but it is noted in the table to reflect the fact that there were earlier reforms to the law before the more recent legalization.

According to 2021 Gallup polling, 68% of American adults now support legalizing marijuana. This is an all-time high, tied with that of the previous year, and continues a steady upward trend which began in 1996 with the passage of the first state-level medical marijuana laws. Legalization is now the majority position among men and women, whites and nonwhites, and all groups by age and education level. However, it has only 50% support among Republicans and 49% support among conservatives.

Currently, marijuana is classified alongside heroin in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, indicating no recognized medical use and a high potential for abuse. However, 2017 Quinnipiac polling showed 76 percent of respondents opposed to marijuana's classification in Schedule I. According to 2019 Pew Research polling, 91% disagree that marijuana has no legitimate medical use; they support legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Currently, an estimated 146 million people, or about 44% of the 330 million people in the United States according to the census, live in the nineteen states where marijuana has been fully legalized. About 700,000 more live in Washington, D.C., where a limited form of legalization is in effect.1 The majority of Americans live in one of the 39 states (or the District of Columbia) where some sort of marijuana law reform has been passed. Eleven states have decriminalization in effect without legalization, while 36 states plus the District of Columbia (including many of the same states with decriminalization or legalization) have medical marijuana laws in effect.

These numbers are a dramatic increase from the state of affairs as recently as 2013. Rhode Island became the latest state to legalize marijuana in May of this year.

Changes to federal law currently under consideration in Congress can be found here. A bill under consideration called the MORE (Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement) Act has been passed by the House of Representatives, but has not yet been voted on in the Senate. The bill would remove federal criminal penalties for possession, distribution and cultivation of marijuana.

As for United States territories, marijuana has been legalized in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, while medical marijuana is legal in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is also decriminalized in the latter, but remains fully criminalized in American Samoa.

Marijuana has been legalized on three American Indian reservations, namely those of the Suquamish and Squaxin Island tribes in Washington state and the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe in South Dakota.

A chemical known as cannabidiol, or CBD, can be extracted from marijuana or industrial hemp and is most notably used to prevent epileptic seizures, although it may have other medicinal benefits as well. This substance differs significantly from marijuana in that, like hemp, it contains very little THC, the chemical responsible for marijuana's intoxicating effects and some of its medicinal qualities.

A federal law passed in 2018 legalizes both industrial hemp and CBD, as long as the substance comes from hemp produced by a licensed grower in accordance with federal and state regulations. However, the legality of the substance still varies by state, and may vary within a state depending on the source of the substance.

Notes

1. Washington, DC passed a referendum on November 4th, 2014 legalizing the possession (up to a certain amount) and home cultivation of marijuana. This went into effect on February 26th, 2015. However, all sale of marijuana outside of a medical context remains illegal.

2. In Maine, marijuana sales have just begun four years after a legalization vote. Overwhelming majorities of both the Maine House and Senate approved a law in October 2018 which would have implemented a licensing and regulation scheme for marijuana in response to a 2016 referendum. In November of that year, voters approved Question 1 to legalize marijuana by a margin of less than 1%.

However, on November 3rd of 2017, Governor Paul LePage vetoed the bill, citing several concerns including conflict with existing state law and uncertainty over the federal government's reaction. The house subsequently voted 74-62 in support of the bill, but this fell short of the two-thirds majority necessary to override the veto.

In 2018, a new bill to similar effect was voted on, and although Governor LePage was no more supportive of this measure, the legislature overwhelmingly voted in May to override Governor LePage's veto.

Legal marijuana sales in Maine finally began on 9 October, 2020. Sales have already begun in Alaska, California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington state.

3. Whether Missouri qualifies as a state with marijuana decriminalization is debatable. A bill was passed in May of 2014 which removes the possibility of jail time for possession of up to 10 grams of marijuana. However, the law only applies to first offenses, and would not actually remove the threat of criminal penalties other than incarceration.

4. New York passed a decriminalization measure in 1973 but there have since then been complaints of frequent arrests for minor marijuana possession, arguably due to exploitation of a loophole in the law.

State Legalized Medical Decrim. More info
Alabama No No Yes Current laws, news
Alaska Yes Yes Yes Current laws, news
Arizona Yes Yes No Current laws, news
Arkansas No Yes No Current laws, news
California Yes Yes Yes Current laws, news
Colorado Yes Yes Yes Current laws, news
Connecticut Yes Yes Yes Current laws, news
Delaware No Yes No Current laws, news
District of Columbia Yes1 Yes Yes Current laws, news
Florida No Yes No Current laws, news
Georgia No No No Current laws, news
Hawaii No Yes Yes Current laws, news
Idaho No No No Current laws, news
Illinois Yes Yes No Current laws, news
Indiana No No No Current laws, news
Iowa No No No Current laws, news
Kansas No No No Current laws, news
Kentucky No No No Current laws, news
Louisiana No Yes Yes Current laws, news
Maine Yes2 Yes Yes Current laws, news
Maryland No Yes Yes Current laws, news
Massachusetts Yes Yes Yes Current laws, news
Michigan Yes Yes No Current laws, news
Minnesota No Yes Yes Current laws, news
Mississippi No Yes Yes Current laws, news
Missouri No Yes No3 Current laws, news
Montana Yes Yes No Current laws, news
Nebraska No No Yes Current laws, news
Nevada Yes Yes Yes Current laws, news
New Hampshire No Yes Yes Current laws, news
New Jersey Yes Yes No Current laws, news
New Mexico Yes Yes Yes Current laws, news
New York Yes Yes Yes4 Current laws, news
North Carolina No No Yes Current laws, news
North Dakota No Yes Yes Current laws, news
Ohio No Yes Yes Current laws, news
Oklahoma No Yes No Current laws, news
Oregon Yes Yes Yes Current laws, news
Pennsylvania No Yes No Current laws, news
Rhode Island Yes Yes Yes Current laws, news
South Carolina No No No Current laws, news
South Dakota No Yes No Current laws, news
Tennessee No No No Current laws, news
Texas No No No Current laws, news
Utah No Yes No Current laws, news
Vermont Yes Yes Yes Current laws, news
Virginia Yes No Yes Current laws, news
Washington Yes Yes Yes Current laws, news
West Virginia No Yes No Current laws, news
Wisconsin No No No Current laws, news
Wyoming No No No Current laws, news
Legalized Medical Decrim.